The Roman Republic, based on the Greek idea of Democracy. It is the same style of government that we in the United States use. The Roman Republic had a leader (Caesar), and a Senate. It operated just like ours did. Unfortunately, the Senate was small, and knew each other very well.
Often did Caesar meet with his Senate to discuss the state of the empire, and its finances. Caesar was very popular among the people, and was favored by them over all of the rest of the government. The senate, predictably, was jealous. They wanted to gain control, so they formulated a plan to murder Caesar and to gain complete control of the country.
They planned to kill Caesar at the senate meeting on March 15, three days before he left to survey part of his empire. They intended to each stab him once, so that if they were ever caught they could share the blame. They were sure that their plan would succeed.
Their plan almost failed when Caesar stayed home to comfort his nightmare-stricken wife. He sent a message that the meeting was to be canceled. When the Senate received his message, they were concerned, because Caesar was soon leaving. So, they sent Caesar's personal friend, Decimus Brutus, to convince him to come anyways.
Brutus was very deceiving. He questioned Caesar's judgment, and his ability to rule. He called Caesar weak, and someone who is cowardly in the face of insignificant things like the nightmares of his wife. Caesar had great pride, and was very offended by the remarks. He grudgingly agreed, and went against his better judgment. And so Caesar ended up dead.
Pride can often end in misery, pain, and even death. Every single person is guilty of this at times in their lives. People with many things (like money, possessions, friends, etc.) are often more susceptible to this principle and common sin. To help the world become a better place, we need to stop pride from entering into our lives.
One thing I noticed is that you said Caesar as if it was one certain person but you need to know that all the rulers of Rome were called Caesar once they ascended into office. Yes, the last one you tell of is the most famous for it brought down the end of the Roman Empire. One thing that is not similar in what I know of the Roman Empire is I don't believe they had a legislative branch. Another thing is they their voting system was very different. As in, woman and slaves couldn't vote (I guess you'd expect that.) And only men of a certain class, wealth, and age could vote. That also led to part of their downfall. I've also heard in a couple of versions of the story that Brutus was blackmailed into convincing (This) Caesar to come to the Senate meeting.
ReplyDeleteIt is true. Pride can often end in misery and pain, but I do not think that pride in itself is the reason. Without pride you can be a very malleable and able to be manipulated type person which has also caused problems in history. What one needs is a balance. Pride of who you are and your station but not so much that you become blind to all your errors and dangers. I mean, who knows. The Senate may have been doing the right thing. Not everything gets written in history. How many records have been proved wrong? Can we really know all the truths of history? Caesar could have been mentally ill, or a tyrant, for all we know he could've planned his own death. The Senate could have saved the world by ending the Empire. Who knows? We may never. I think you are wrong about where we need to stop Pride from entering our lives. We need pride. Pride is a key ingrediant in the lifeblood of the human race. Without it, who would we be? From pride stems courage. Courage saves nations and lives. What we need is to control it, and not have the bad pride or too much pride. I'm not saying that your totally wrong, just that there can be good pride. If you don't pride yourself for your accomplishments and your birthright, who are you? Witout our pride and courage we are nothing.
Okay, I sort of forgot something in my writing.
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference in being prideful, and being proud. Pride is an overmanifestation of being proud. We do need to be proud in order to have courage, and all of those things, but pride makes us act rashly, and for something simple or stupid. Pride results in unnecessary violence, contention, or misery. Being proud results in happiness, courage, satisfaction. I can be proud of my family, my friends, my country, as long as I am not trying to out-do or out-prove that mine is the best. Thank you Alex, o Great Ruler of the World